If you haven’t tried cold brew coffee yet, you’re in for a treat. Cold brew coffee takes a lot longer to make, but your patience is rewarded with a coffee that’s significantly less acidic than traditional hot coffee.

Where traditional coffee uses hot water to release the flavor and contents of coffee, the cold brew process replaces heat with time. Cold brew coffee doesn’t release as much of the natural oil from the beans (which is what gives traditional coffee that “bite” with a bitter kick to the palette), and it keeps elements like ketones, amides, and esters locked away inside the beans.

The result is a cup of coffee that’s smooth, balanced, and large-bodied, with low acidity and minimal bitterness. For the best coffee possible try a grinder designed for cold brew.

What to look for in coffee grounds for cold brew

When you’re making cold brew coffee, you’ll need to pay special attention to the beans that you use. Most artisan coffee roasters take care of this for you by delivering blends that are specifically crafted for cold brewing, plus they utilize a precise scale, it still helps to know what to look for. To help you in your search for the perfect brew, here are a few things to look for in coffee grounds for cold brew coffee:

Origin – South American coffee tends to have a deeper, darker flavor profile that’s ideal for cold brewing. Don’t let that keep you away from being adventurous and trying coffee from other regions, but it’s always a safe bet going with cold brew blends that use beans from Columbia and Guatemala.

Tiny Footprint Coffee was founded in 2010 by a team of specialty coffee artisans. All of their coffees come from select high-altitude Fair-Trade cooperatives and farms, and all of their sourcing partners are certified organic. The company test roasts and tastes every lot before purchasing their beans, and they craft roast their coffee in a vintage German Probat drum roaster that’s been retrofitted with computer-controlled fuel-efficient ribbon burners.

Their meticulous process ensures that every batch of coffee is roasted to perfection with optimal flavor and aroma. All of their coffees are uniquely crafted for clean, flavorful finishes, so they’re guaranteed to please no matter what your preferred brewing style is.

Cold Brew Lab is a great artisan coffee roaster from New York City. As the name suggests, these guys focus on crafting coffee that’s ideally-suited for cold brewing. Everything from the sourcing to the roasting comes together to create a smooth, well-rounded, low acid, and full bodied cold brew flavor.

New York City must be a mecca for artisan coffee, because here’s another top-rated cold brew product out of the city that never sleeps. Stone Street Coffee is a specialty roaster in Brooklyn, and they’ve been roasting handcrafted coffee since 2009. They maintain ethical and intimate sourcing relationships with farmers and cooperatives in the world’s best growing regions, and they only use the best specialty-grade beans. The result is an artfully crafted coffee that’s a delicious cold brew.

If you’re looking for a Kosher coffee, I’d highly recommend going with The Chosen Bean Artisan Roasters. These guys take the craft seriously—every bean that they use is selected based on 14 different variances (taste, size, flavor, etc.), and the meticulous sourcing process delivers superior coffee beans.

Every batch of coffee that they roast is actually hand-roasted by the master roaster, who keeps a keen eye out to ensure a smooth finish without any burnt beans. The result is a delicious and smooth cold brew that you’re sure to enjoy.

Whether you need to make a single cup or a whole pitcher coffee, La Pod Cold Brew Singles make it super simple to quickly make great cold brew coffee. The high-end coffee blend is stored inside pouches with a micro-mesh filter, and all you have to do is place the pod in a glass of water to cold-brew the contents. It’s clean, simple, fresh, and a lot less expensive than buying cold brew coffee by the bottle.

Key features:

Single-cup cold brew pods (can use multiple for a pitcher)

Super easy to use

100% Arabica coffee

Silky smooth taste with lower acidity

Takeaways

I’ve tried every cold brew coffee on this list and they’re all fantastic, so I won’t recommend one over the other. In fact, I’d highly recommend trying a few (or all) of them to spice things up and explore what flavors you like best. Pick the one that looks best today, then try the next one when the first bag runs out. Personally… I like espresso more than cold brew nowadays.

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